Arts & Culture

The choice of movie to kick off the impressive line up of films is Alfonso Cuarón's Roma.

This exquisite movie (set in turbulent 1970’s Mexico City) provides a fascinating glimpse into the life of Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), who works as a housemaid for a middle class family in an impoverished country.

What would it feel like to be responsible for making a critical life or death decision for another person?

This is the question posed in the movie The Children Act, adapted from the novel by Booker Prize-winning author Ian McEwan.

We stand in the shoes of high court judge Fiona Maye (acted by Emma Thompson) as she is tasked with making the legal decision in the courts as to whether a young 17 year old boy who has leukaemia should receive a blood transfusion that will enable him to live. He and his parents are Jehovah’s Witnesses and receiving another’s blood is not in accordance with their beliefs.

The story told in this movie is thought provoking and provides a glimpse into the inner world of Judge Fiona Maye (also known as “My Lady”) and the complexities of her high pressure job as she navigates this complex issue to arrive at a decision.

After the fun we had watching In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play at the Heath Ledger Theatre a few days ago, we eagerly returned to the State Theatre Centre of WA – this time to watch Xenides at the Studio Underground.

As we waited for the performance to start, we were greeted with a glitzy background set straight out of the popular TV game show The Wheel of Fortune.

The play is about the life of Adriana Xenides – the game show co-host of The Wheel of Fortune. An iconic figure for many Australian families as they watched the box each night, she lays claim in the Guinness Book of Records for being the longest running TV show game hostess, with an 18 year run.

With a title like In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Black Swan State Theatre Company had eschewed their usual polished productions in favour of the crude, rude, and lewd.

You would, of course, be greatly mistaken.

While the play is powered by Dr Givings' new method of treating hysteria in Victorian England (the electrical vibrator), it is the interactions between the cast that provide the friction, tension and satisfying release for the audience.

Once again Black Swan State Theatre Company have put together a stunning and innovative set that allows the audience an intimate peek into Dr Givings' operating theatre (the Next Room of the title) as the backdrop to his wife Catherine's family parlour, without the need for jarring scene changes.